The 49th Venice Biennale, which began June 10 and ends Nov. 4, is attracting record-breaking crowds drawn by the provocative, professional and sometimes, controversial art and ideas produced by artists from various and disparate regions around the world.
The show features 63 national pavilions and an immense curated show of international artists.
According to the Venice Biennale organizers, within the first month of its opening, 45,000 viewers visited the exhibition, with an estimated daily average of 1,730, making this one of the most visited exhibitions in Italy.
The strong interest and heavy crowds make the Venice Biennale a perfect opportunity for lesser-known regions of the world to gain international visibility. Taiwan's pavilion has received critical acclaim and saw about 15,000 visitors in the first month of its opening. So for an artist such as Wang Wen-chih (
In 1895, for the first Venice Biennale, the participating national pavilions were located in the Giardini di Castello (the Gardens). Presently, of the 29 national pavilions in the Giardini, only two represent Asia: Japan and South Korea. Plans are afoot to build more pavilions in the Giardini, but for now, exhibitors have to rent piazzas scattered around the city.
Participating for the first time in 1995, Taiwan, under the auspices of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM) and the Taipei City government, rents the majestic Palazzo delle Prigione (the Prison), which is on a well-traveled route that faces the Grand Canal and is adjacent to the famed "Bridge of Sighs" and San Marco Plaza, making this one of the most memorable and prime locations to hold an art exhibition.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MANRAY HSU
The curator for this year's Taiwan pavilion, Kao Chien-hui (高千惠), said that for the previous three exhibitions, the interior space of the prison was set up to appear like a museum or gallery space. For this year's show she opted against using false white walls and decided to work with the existing rustic architecture. Because the building is a historic site, there were strict limitations to what could be done in the space such as making any direct alteration to the walls.
To its credit, TFAM has consistently put on professionally installed exhibitions and always maintained a high level of quality in its four showings at Venice. However, the dramatic exterior of the prison has never been utilized, with the exception of hanging aTaiwan pavilion announcement banner.
The director of Taipei's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Lung Ying-Tai (
PHOTO COURTESY OF MANRAY HSU
Lung decided to not focus on political issues for the Taiwan Pavilion, to stay away from the idea of nationalism and focus instead on the essential spirit of contemporary art.
Currently, most of the pavilions try to establish a dialogue on contemporary art issues rather than promoting their countries' ideas of nationalism. Cultural and political borders seem of little consequence. This is best exemplified by the case of Huang Yong-Ping, an artist born in China and naturalized in France, who represented the French Pavilion in 1999. In addition, contemporary art is blurring boundaries such as the dichotomies of East and West, which prompts the question: who is influencing whom?
Even though the Taiwan Pavilion didn't receive any awards, many viewers praised it for its high quality of art. One of the Biennale jurors, Hans Ulrich Obrist cited Michael Lin's (
Publisher Robert Bernell of the Beijing-based Web site firm Chinese-art.com succinctly sums up the show, "[it] was a wonderful statement about such contrasting forces -- mix of old and new, folk art and new media -- and how such forces can comprise a whole living (and evolving) cell, a single identity that is uniquely Taiwan."
For the next exhibition, Lung has recommended that the pavilion's reception not take place in a hotel, where refreshment is the center of focus, but should be held at the exhibition space, where art is the focal point.
The exhibition and reception should focus on the art and artists, and not be used as a platform for politicians, as is sometimes the case, to air views on various matters often not related to art. But since most of the governments sponsor their pavilions, they may feel entitled to use it as their personal soapbox.
Some of the strongest national pavilions such as the prize-winning ones of Germany, France, and Canada, presented the work of one artist or duo, creating bold and powerful statements. It is these solitary presentations that linger in the mind.
Speaking on the lack of resources and funding provided artists in Taiwan, Lung said, "What Taiwan has is talent, [but] what it lacks, is a mechanism ? which presents these talents."
With more and more artists exhibiting abroad at venues like the Biennale and with the newly opened Institute of Contemporary Art, on must hope there is the potential for a flourishing international exchange for contemporary art in Taiwan.
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